Chapter 3 and 4 Summary

Among teachers, a frequently expressed hesitation about using Web 2.0 revolves around whether they have time to “fit” new media into their already crowded curriculum. “Will I have to take time to teach them how to work with twitter or blogger is a common question. “I barely have time to get through my curriculum map as it is without throwing in a five-day tutorial on using iMovie.” Teachers tend to feel that they need to get students completely comfortable with whatever tool they’re using before making an assignment. And they feel they have to do it themselves. Fortunately, this is one of the easier questions to answer.

Kists gives great examples and ideas on how to do all this for example in chapter 3 he focused on classrooms in which the students and teachers participate in a kind of offline-online world hybrid. Most of the teachers that have commented wished they could teach in a freer environment, their idea being that one doesn't learn to drive by watching movies about driving. But an increasing number of teachers actually are getting access to a less-filtered Internet experience, and the assignments they develop prove to be quite tantalizing to the teachers and classrooms.

This chapter marked our place in the whirlwind transformation of Internet technology that launches users in a surprisingly sudden (and often unnoticed) leap from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. Kist shows educators both a mirror and a map, explaining where we are and where we might go in this vastly rich frontier of knowledge and learning. The paths he shows us “ (Kist, 2009)spill into layered networks of inter-crossing connections and intersections—a true 'web' of knowledge—replacing old, tired, and narrow paths." This chapter provides examples of assignments and assessments that include at least a taste of Web 2.0 at school. First, the issue of staying safe online is addressed with examples of how some educators are dealing with this challenge. (Kist, 2009)

In chapter 4 entitled “Grande”: Kists speaks of how social networking in a high-tech environment. He also acknowledges that there is an increasing number of teachers are in schools that allow students to have unfiltered access to such sites as Blogger, YouTube, Google Docs and other applications. These teachers are able to more fully realize the learning opportunities that Web 2.0 applications afford. This chapter includes ideas for how to structure assignments in schools that allow for some Internet surfing that is less restricted. (Kist, 2009)

Kist, W. (2009). The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age. California: Corwin Press.

 

Chapter1 and 2 Summary

         When I was told we were to read this book I thought to myself, “Great another how to book of stuff we already know everything about”. Instead, I am slapped in the face with what Kylene Beers opens The Socially Networked Classroom with which is a forward in which she describes asking a principal “What type of student will not do well in this school?”  This of course caught my attention because this insightful and unusual question leads to the principal admitting that the students who will struggle most in his school are those preparing for a 21st century career. This text grabbed me right away, and I started flagging all sorts of ideas even in the earliest chapters. We as educators see this all the time, with some high risk students we work with, who don’t have the everyday access to technology. In his book he states the quote of “We’re creating another generation of students who know how to consume information, when what we need to be nurturing is a generation that knows how produce new ideas.” Kist’s background as a teacher enables him to interact with educators on their level and provide realistic examples and resources. (Kist, 2010)

           Kist begins by explaining new media and social stereotypes then introduces the reader to the new literacies of social media. Depending on the individual access of the reader to technology, Kist then provides ideas, guidelines, and strategies to implement in the classroom.  Every chapter provides real-world examples and resources, classroom questions, and samples of rubrics and worksheets. Kist describes how we can prepare students for the 21st century by linking together literacy, technology, and social media. I try to do this all the time in my classroom with literacy programs such as Start to Finish, Star fall and IXL. Through this process we will create a generation of students who can not only produce new ideas, but also effectively consume information as well on paper. 

            In the second chapter Kist writes, “Now we face an age in which we are shifting to a screen-based society in which much of our reading will be from a screen, and therefore reading will not only encompass print but also images, sound, and motion as well.  Visual literacy skills should be included if we truly want to prepare students for this new kind of reading.” (pg. 25)  I find this so exciting because I work with students who love to listen to stories and want to read like the others but have a problem with print. I know with some of the visual literacy skills I have taught my students have helped in their reading capability and comprehension. (Kist, 2010)

           The book is loaded with multiple ideas of classroom activities and provocative questions and the book is highly practical.  However towards the middle of the first chapter Kist asks three main questions he seems to cycle back to throughout the portion of the text I’ve read so far:

1. How do new forms (of text) transform writing?
2. Who is the audience for our writing in the new media age?
3. How do we form communities?

All three questions are very interesting to me, however the third one really has me pondering because I’m starting to see that Kist is really asking – How do we form communities both face-to-face and online? 

         What does it mean to “write” in each of these communities?  For example, if you have a Facebook page just take a moment to look at what you have posted.  Would you have said or shared the same things in real life? No I would absolutely not nor would I normally share pictures of functions with other people who are friends with your other friends. In the context of posting things online via blogs, social networks, wikis, or collaborative word processors like Google Docs Kist asks, “What does literacy mean when it’s increasingly public and collaborative?” To me any approach that encourages participation, in society and communication between its members, helps to build literacies. Literacies begin with and are enhanced by social engagement and, therefore, go beyond the individual. For individuals, literacies provide the means of participating fully in society. Current society often refers to the importance of “building a learning culture.” It is well understood that lifelong learning increases literacy skills in the individual and, as such, begins to build the foundation of a true learning culture. Imagine the learning culture that will be created through giving more attention to the foundational skills of literacy.

 Kist, W. (2010) the Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Ltd.

 

 

My View on the Behavioist Theory

 

 

        Educational technology is viewed as both processes and tools, I feel it is important to begin by examining the four different historical perspectives on these processes and tools, all of which have helped shape current practices in the field. These influences come to us from four groups of education professionals. Because each of these groups emerged from a different area of education and/or society, each has a unique outlook on what educational technology is, and each defines it in a slightly different way. To some degree, these views have merged over time, but each retains a focus that tends to shape the integration practices it considers important. Educational technology as media and audiovisual communications perspective one grew out of the audiovisual (AV) movement in the 1930s, this movement produced audiovisual communications or the "branch of educational theory and practice concerned primarily with the design and use of messages that control the learning process” (Saettler, 1990). The view of educational technology as media to deliver information continues to dominate areas of education and the communications industry. As late as 1986, the National Task Force on Educational Technology equated educational technology with media, treating computers simply as another medium (Saettler, 1990).

       The next view originated with post-World War II military and industrial trainers who were faced with the problem of preparing large numbers of personnel quickly. known as instructional systems and instructional design this perspective was based on efficiency studies and learning theories from educational psychology, they advocated using more planned, systematic approaches to developing uniform, effective materials and training procedures. Their view was based on the belief that both human (teachers) and nonhuman (media) resources could be part of an efficient system for addressing any instructional need. Therefore, they equated "educational technology" with "educational problem solutions." As these training personnel began to work with both university research and development projects and K-12 schools, they also influenced practices in both of these areas. Behaviorist theories initially dominated and cognitive theories later gained precedence. In the 1990s, popular learning theories criticized systems approaches as being too rigid to foster some kinds of learning, particularly higher order ones (Robler A., 2010). Thus, the current view of educational technology as instructional systems is continually evolving.

        Now we get to Perspective #3: Educational technology as vocational training which is also known as technology education, this perspective originated with industry trainers and vocational educators in the 1980s. They believed (1) that an important function of school learning is to prepare students for the world of work in which they will use technology and (2) that vocational training can be a practical means of teaching all content areas such as math, science, and language. This view brought about a major paradigm shift in vocational training in K-12 schools away from industrial arts curricula centered in woodworking/metals and graphics/printing shops toward technology education courses taught in labs equipped with high-technology stations such as desktop publishing, computer-assisted design (CAD), and robotics systems (Robler A., 2010) .

      As computers began to transform business and industry practices, both trainers and teachers began to see that computers also had the potential to aid instruction. This is when perspective #4: Educational technology as computer systems (a.k.a. educational computing and instructional computing) came to be. From the time computers came into classrooms in the 1960s until about 1990, this perspective was known as educational computing and encompassed both instructional and administrative support applications. At first, programmers and systems analysts created all applications. But by the 1970s, many of the same educators involved with media, AV communications, and instructional systems also were researching and developing computer applications. By the 1990s, educators began to see computers as part of a combination of technology resources, including media, instructional systems, and computer-based support systems. At that point, educational computing became known as educational technology (Robler A., 2010).

    As Teachers we are responsible for integrating technology into the curriculum and instructional program in order to enhance student achievement.  In my opinion, traditional testing methods are inadequate for measuring student achievement and knowledge.  Teachers need to assess all aspects of a student, not just their testing ability.  Alternative assessment is defined as "a process of gathering evidence and documenting a student's learning and growth in an alternative context."  These assessments can be used in a formative manner, to guide student learning during the lesson, as well as in a summative manner to assess learning at the end of a lesson.  More advanced students could develop a portfolio, electronic or paper, to display their knowledge of a particular topic or lesson.  Teachers can also use rubrics to assess students' work.  Rubrics can be used to assess the majority of students' work, such as, word processing assignments, spread sheets, power point presentations, and educational software assignments.

 
    The integration of technology into the curriculum and the classroom allows for the development of real-life skills and knowledge on the students' behalf.  For students to be successful in all aspects of their education, as well as in their future teachers need to facilitate and encourage this development. With this change, teachers need to be educated on how best to utilize this technology.  Most importantly, computers and other software and hardware should complement a teacher's lesson and not be the lesson.  Presently, computers are used most often for drill-and-practice activities, tutorials, and educational games instead of as a learning tool that complements the teacher's lesson. Placing computers in the classroom, where they are readily available, allows students to use them as a tool. This experience allows the student to become technologically competent.  The computer is used as a tool to enhance learning by relating it to real-world data in order to solve problems.  The lesson is student-centered and authentic while the classroom environment includes a variety of resource-rich activities.   
 
    The teacher can assign group Internet research reports instead of individual ones so every student can experience the computer.  A projection device could be hooked up to the computer so students can watch the teacher as she models computer use either through Internet searches, Power Point presentations, or to create and display data in spread sheets.  The computer should not be used as a reward station for the students who finish their work early because it punishes those students who are the most likely to benefit from computer use.

    Using technology in the classroom also increases parent involvement and encourages communication.  The teacher could develop a class web site where students and parents could go to read postings or discussions, ask questions, and find homework assignments.  Computer technology allows the students to extend their learning beyond the classroom by becoming connected with their community, other schools, and people and sites from around the globe.  Students can research the community through email and through investigating local newsgroups, and local businesses' web sites.  The teacher should provide the students with the opportunity to connect with students from other schools, either local or distant.  Students can learn about each other's culture and geographical location, and can share their work with one another.  Certain Internet sites provide teachers with the resources they need to contact authors, illustrators, or other important people through email so students can interact with them.

 

Robler A., M. D. (2010, july 20). education.com. Retrieved from education.com: http://www.education.com/reference/article/what-educational-technology/

Saettler, Paul (1968). History of Instructional Technology. New York: McGraw-Hill.